The Human Side of AI: Keeping HR Human While Embracing What’s Next

AI is everywhere. It’s writing job descriptions, screening résumés, analyzing employee surveys, and even recommending career moves. Some HR leaders fear this means the “human” side of HR is at risk.

But here’s the truth: AI will not replace HR. What it will do is force us to decide what must remain human. And that decision may be the most important one of our careers.

The future of HR is not AI vs. humans. It’s humans + AI, in partnership.

Why Mindset Comes First

Dave Ulrich, one of the most respected thinkers in our field, recently reminded us that tools alone cannot deliver change. In his latest piece :Making Progress by Changing Mindsets for HR and Business Leaders" He shared the story of a leader who failed to improve his listening skills despite repeated training. Why? Because, as Ulrich notes, “I don’t trust people and don’t think they have much to say of value.”

The lesson is powerful: until a leader’s mindset shifts, no tool or training will make a difference.

The same applies to AI in HR. AI will not magically make organizations more human-centric or empathetic. To truly deliver value, leaders must shift their assumptions about what matters most—not efficiency alone, but trust, fairness, and human capability.

Why Human Values Still Matter

According to SHRM, AI can and should handle repetitive, low-value tasks—but it can never replace the empathy, fairness, and ethical judgment that define HR at its best. Instead, AI gives HR professionals back time to focus on building relationships, guiding leaders, and designing people-first strategies.

Workday echoes this in their Paradox of AI and the Human Future of Work: as automation increases, uniquely human qualities like empathy, imagination, and creativity become more—not less—essential.

Ulrich warns that when HR’s identity is defined only by activities—hiring, training, compensation—it risks becoming siloed, or worse, replaced by agentic AI. To stay indispensable, HR must define itself not by process, but by the value delivered to stakeholders.

What the Data Shows

Recent research reinforces this need for mindset change:

• AI frees capacity but elevates human skills. Cornerstone OnDemand found that AI’s greatest potential in HR is not automation—it’s restoration. By handling workflows, scheduling, and data crunching, AI gives HR teams back the time to practice deep listening, coaching, and leadership development.

• Human skills are gaining in importance. A 2025 Workday survey found that 83% of professionals believe AI increases the value of human abilities like empathy, ethical decision-making, conflict resolution, and relationship building. Interestingly, 82% of employees (compared with only 65% of managers) said human connection is more important than ever in the age of AI.

• Adoption follows a distribution. Ulrich points out that in any organizational change, about 20% are advocates, 60–70% are persuadable, and 10–20% are resistant. HR leaders should focus their energy on the persuadable majority—those who can shift mindset with the right support—instead of exhausting resources on the immovable.

• U.S. leaders emphasize empathy in the AI era. At a Business Insider roundtable, executives from Accenture, Mastercard, and AARP stressed that empathetic leadership, worker well-being, and inclusion must guide AI adoption.
  

Models of Human + AI Collaboration

Both Ulrich’s framework and new research point toward clear models for partnership:

• Augmentation, not automation. AI should support HR in decision-making—not replace it. The human must always remain in the loop, applying judgment and context.

• Mindset to daily actions. Ulrich advises asking: What should I do more of? Less of? The same? For HR, that might mean: – More coaching, less data wrangling. – More trust-building, less administrative burden. – More research and insight, powered by AI. – More brainstorming and creativity, with AI as a thought partner. – More challenging of paradigms, with AI exposing blind spots and alternatives.

When applied this way, AI is not just a time-saver. It becomes a capability multiplier—helping leaders listen better, think deeper, and imagine more.

• Practice and reinforcement. Ulrich recommends experimenting in cycles—three hours, three days, three weeks, three months—until new habits become identity. Applied to AI, this means piloting small nudges, measuring impact, then scaling only what strengthens human capability.
  

What HR Leaders Can Do Now

So how do you keep HR human while embracing what’s next? Four practical steps—aligned with Ulrich’s five:

1. Recognize your current mindset. Are you defining HR by activities or by outcomes?

2. Articulate the desired mindset. What story do you want people to tell about HR in your organization?

3. Translate into daily actions. Apply AI not just to free up time, but to expand human capability in trust, insight, creativity, and perspective.

4. Reinforce through identity. Build rewards, recognition, and narratives around the human capability AI enables, not just the efficiency it delivers.
   

The Human Side of HI (Human Intelligence)

If AI is “artificial intelligence,” HR’s real differentiator is “human intelligence.”

• HI is empathy. Listening deeply, creating space for voices that might otherwise go unheard.

• HI is collaboration. Building trust across teams, navigating conflicts, and aligning people toward shared goals.

• HI is communication. Giving feedback, holding difficult conversations, and shaping culture through dialogue.

At Claro Mentor, this is exactly how we think about AI: not as a replacement for these uniquely human skills, but as a multiplier. Our technology is designed to help managers listen better, spark collaboration, and communicate with clarity.

As Ulrich reminds us, HR leaders succeed when they are seen “as an integral part of the business team more than an ‘HR’ member.” AI should accelerate this shift—stripping away the transactional so HR can become the trusted partner that every leader and employee needs. Closing Thought

AI won’t erase the human side of HR. But it will pressure-test it.

The organizations that thrive won’t be those who adopt AI the fastest—but those who use AI to amplify the very things that make us human.

Because here’s the truth: AI handles tasks. Humans drive empathy, collaboration, communication, and creativity. And in the end, it’s those human capacities—not algorithms—that build trust, loyalty, and culture.